New York Yankees

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} What attracts a bean ball, Right upon the screw, Impact on the pinkie, With the knuckle black and blue,The Grandy Man, Oh, the Grandy Man’s hand.The Grandy Man’s hand, 'Cause we need another chanceTo make Ichiro look good. Listen: One could argue that over the last two years, there has been no darker Yankee nightmare than the continuing regression of Mr. Curtis Granderson Jr. Nearly every part of the guy has brought us eternal pain. For starters, he stands as living testament to the Yankee tradition of trading away great future talent for stars on the descent. Every time he marches back to the dugout after a strikeout - as he did 195 times last season - we can see the ghosts of Austin Jackson and Ian Kennedy walking with him. In his first NY season, Curtis started slow and then pulled a hammy, gone for a month. Last October, the world watched him disassemble. And this year, his first spring training at bat breaks a wrist - and last night: Goodbye, pinkie. Out six weeks. Ugh.Poor guy. He never deserved this. A guy like Raul Mondesi - he deserved our scornful bile. Not Grandy. But his time with us is quickly running out. If Hal Steinbrenner was serious about cutting payroll, the Grandy Man was never going to return next year. This was his contract season, his last great chance to make a killing - the five-year-deal that sets his family up for life. (He's already done that, of course, but this would be his last and maybe greatest payday.) Now, he comes back after the All-Star break, feeling more pressure than ever on each increasingly overblown home run swing. And where will we be? By mid-July, Ichiro has either started to hit, or there is no place to hide his futility any more. By then, Vernon Wells could be running out of gas - the way Raul Ibanez did last year, when the guy signed as a DH was forced to play all those games in left field. By then, frankly, Brett Gardner will probably have jammed a thumb, simply because that's what Gardy always does.By then, we'll have turned over our infield, but who plays the outfield? Ben Francisco, I guess.Well, we're still in first. And if last night's injuries to Grandy and Phelps make it seem like we're under a curse cloud, the game - featuring the Artist Formerly Known as Fausto Carmona - exposed Tampa's underbelly. They have no second tier pitching. So hold on tight, folks. Here comes Brennan Boesch, joining Vidal Nuno, Preston Claiborne and Dave Adams. The Retrieval Empire is still going. Ben Francisco, it's up to you.

Yesterday on Pinstriped Bible Curtis Granderson fractures left hand after being hit by pitch Yankees 9, Rays 4: We still lose 2013 Yankees Mock Draft Discussion #2: Shortstops Ivan Nova and Chris Stewart return; Yankees lineup against Rays Yankees injury updates and depth chart battles Can Travis Hafner continue to produce? Masahiro Tanaka to post in 2014: Will the Yankees be interested? Baby Bomber Recap 5/23/13: Jake Cave picks up three hits in Charleston win Around the Internet Injury Woes Continue - Sports Illustrated | Cliff Corcoran: Now that Curtis Granderson is hurt again, take a look at all the Yankees on the disabled list and add up all the starts they have missed so far. Inconsistent - Pinstripe Pundits | Derek Albin: It seems that Phil Hughes' inconsistencies can be chalked up to inconsistent arm slots and release points which cause extra movement on his pitches that he doesn't want. Growing Pains - An A-Blog for A-Rod | Brad Vietrogoski: The Yankees' top outfield prospects are all struggling at the plate, but it's not all bad as they are still being patient and we get to see how they adapt in order to succeed. Receiving Skills - Baseball Prospectus | Ben Lindbergh: Chris Stewart talks about how he frames pitches, common mistakes made and evaluating a catcher's skill. How Have the Yankees Done it? - NoMaas | SJK: The Yankees rank near the top of the league in pitching and defense, but their offense is below average. Pitching Staff Improving - It's About the Money | Michael Eder: Austin Romine has a reputation for being an easy catcher to work with and good at calling games, but in a limited amount of time the pitchers have actually been more effective with him behind the plate. Quick Hits Mark Teixeira will begin his rehab soon and hopes to be back with the Yankees by the end of the week. Andy Pettitte will throw a bullpen today and is feeling good. Ex-Yankee Royce Ring has signed with the Long Island Ducks. There is an online petition to designate Ben Francisco for assignment. Phil Hughes made fun of Derek Jeter's "Philip" coffee cup by having his cup labeled "Sanderson." Buy Yankees Tickets: You can still get tickets to see the Yankees play the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Questions of the Day If the Yankees tank the rest of the season what one player should the Yankees trade off? Who should be the every day outfielder in Granderson's place? What are you doing this Memorial Day weekend? What is your favorite thing to eat during the summer? Coming Up Today Baby Bomber Recap 5/14/13: Dante Bichette Jr. homers to keep his hit streak alive @ 9 am Don Mattingly on the hot seat: Would the Yankees be interested in bringing him back to New York? @ 11 am Yankees draft news: Baseball America new mock draft, international draft and schedule @ 1 pm New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays at 4:10 pm (Game Thread at 3:30 pm)

The story. Just watch. Granderson is now going to have a really bad year, numbers-wise, and somehow that will end up with him staying with the Yankees in 2014. Ugh. Either Cashman will make him a qualifying offer, for the pick, and Granderson will take it – since no one will give him a huge pact coming off a season like this one. Or, if the Yankees don’t qualify him, and the market’s not there for Curtis, the Yankees will try and be “smart” and sign him for one year at $7 million, with incentives, just before the start of Spring Training – and then Granderson will play full-time in 2014 and strike out 200 times and hit two-twenty.

While Ivan Nova was activated from the 15-day disabled list Friday, Yankees manager Joe Girardi sent him to the bullpen. Instead, Vidal Nuno will start Saturday's game against the Rays, who send undefeated Matt Moore to the mound.

Source: FanGraphs The Yankees stomped the Rays by the score of 9-4 on Friday night — the score makes it seem a lot closer than it felt — but more importantly, they lost Curtis Granderson for an extended period of time after a pitch broke his left pinky in the fifth inning. It’s a win in the standings and a loss in the big picture. Let’s recap… Three-Run Second: It started with (another) blown call at first base. David Adams was incorrectly ruled safe on an infield single, putting two men on-base for Lyle Overbay. He took a big hack at a 3-0 fastball and doubled in the first two runs of the game, then Jayson Nix singled him in for a three-zip lead. The call at first would have only been the second out of the inning, but it changed everything. The Yankees took advantage of the gift call. Blown Open: It’s been a while since the Bombers put a crocked number on the board, so it was nice to see them so some serious damage in the middle innings. Brett Gardner sabotaged a first pitch fastball for a two-run homer in the fourth, which is exactly what he’s done for three of his four homers this year. Nix (bases loaded walk), Chris Stewart (single), and Robinson Cano (bases loaded hit-by-pitch) each drove in a run in the fifth to make it eight-zip. Job Security: Ivan Nova is going to have to get comfortable in the bullpen. David Phelps retired the first 13 men he faced on Friday and finished the night with four runs allowed in a career-high 7.2 innings, a line that looks a lot worse than he actually pitched. He threw 63 of 98 pitches for strikes and was very efficient, never once throwing more than 15 pitches in an inning. Phelps’ night came to an unfortunate end when a line drive hit him in the right forearm — there’s a chance he was going to be removed at time anyway — but x-rays came back negative and it’s just a bruise. Once again, the right-hander was rock solid. Nova ain’t taking this rotation spot back anytime soon. Leftovers: The bottom four spots in the lineup went a combined 8-for-18 (.444) and scored six of the nine runs … replays showed Cano was not hit by the pitch in the fifth, it hit the bat and he was awarded first base anyway … Nix had a very strong game, with a single and a triple to go along with the bases loaded walk … Boone Logan struck out the only man he faced while Shawn Kelley worked a scoreless, strikeout-less ninth … the Yankees went 5-for-9 with runners in scoring position and remain undefeated (22-0) when leading after seven innings … the Rays had to get 15 outs from their bullpen, which could impact the rest of the series. Check out MLB.com for the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs for some more stats, and ESPN for the updated standings. Both the Red Sox and Orioles won, so they remain two and four back of the Yankees in the loss column. The Rays dropped to five back. These same two teams will play game two of this three-game set on Saturday afternoon, and the pitching matchup features a pair of very different southpaws: Vidal Nuno and Matt Moore. Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blogYankees lose Curtis Granderson in win over Rays

This is the part that seemed familiar: Curtis Granderson clearly thought he wasn’t really hurt. Same thing happened when he broke his forearm in spring training. This time, Granderson was hit by a fifth inning fastball, went to first base and waved off any medical attention. He said his hand didn’t really start to throb until he got to third base. That’s when it became clear the Yankees might have a problem. “I thought I was going to be OK, very similar to the last time,” Granderson said. “Once I got to third, it started hurting a little bit and I was thinking to myself, I’m going to have to make sure I can go ahead and squeeze a bat before I can go back out there. And as the inning continued to prolong a little bit, it started to throb a little bit more and they said, ‘We’ll go ahead and get you out of here at this time, take a look at it.’ And that’s when we found the news out.” Granderson will see a specialist in New York on Monday, and the Yankees should have a more reliable timetable at that point. For the time being, Granderson has been diagnosed with a fractured fifth metacarpal near the knuckle of his left pinky. Granderson said doctors here told him he probably won’t need surgery. Joe Girardi said it will be at least four weeks before Granderson is back, but it’s worth remembering that Alex Rodriguez missed six weeks with a similar injury last season. “It’s heartbreaking,” David Phelps said. “He puts in all the hard work to get back and now he’s got to do it all over again.” The Yankees dodged another serious injury when Phelps left with nothing more than a bruised forearm after a sharp line drive that left Phelps shaken, but not seriously hurt. Instead, it’s Granderson who can’t catch a break. He broke his right forearm when he was hit by a pitch in his first spring training at-bat. He broke his hand only 10 days after returning to the lineup. “I bounced back from this (earlier) one, I’ll bounce back from this,” Granderson said. “The hand is still on. It didn’t fall off. You can take a look at all the positives from everything. It’s a better break than the previous one, that’s a good thing. It should be back sooner than the last time, so that’s a good thing. The team is playing well. Hopefully we come back and the team is right where we need it to be and continue to help this team move forward until the end.” • Up in Scranton, Donnie Collins reports that Brennan Boesch was packing his bags postgame. Seems likely that he’ll be the call-up tomorrow, but it also seems all but certain that Ichiro Suzuki will once again become an everyday player, no longer on the verge of falling into fourth outfielder status. • Discussing a possible call-up postgame, Girardi actually forgot that Ben Francisco is on the roster (hard to blame him). Girardi mentioned having only three outfielders and being willing to use Jayson Nix in the outfield if necessary. Reminded of Francisco, Girardi reversed course. “Oh yeah, Francisco,” he said. “Four (outfielders). So disregard what I said. I don’t know what we’ll do. We have so many roster issues, I’m not sure what we’re going to do.” • As you can imagine, the Yankees clubhouse was really stunned. This seemed to be such a positive day just a few hours ago, now Granderson is gone. Again. “No matter how many games we win, he’s the kind of guy that you need,” Robinson Cano said. “He’s one of those guys that we’re going to miss.” • Speaking of guys the Yankees would miss, Phelps was outstanding tonight. He had that bad stretch in the sixth inning, which makes the final pitching line look much worse than his actual performance. “I was getting ahead of guys, getting strike one, and I was really hitting my spots early on,” Phelps said. “The inning where they scored the three runs, I just got a li

Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson suffered a fractured left fifth metacarpal (knuckle on pinky finger) and was forced to leave Friday's game against the Rays after being hit on the left hand with a pitch during his at-bat in the fifth inning.

Triple-A Scranton (9-4 loss to Durham) 2B Corban Joseph: 3-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 E (fielding) — had been in a 5-for-35 (.143) slump RF Brennan Boesch: 0-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K — he was called into the manager’s office after the game, so he’ll almost certainly be coming up to replace the injured Curtis Granderson LF Zoilo Almonte: 1-4, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K 3B Ronnie Mustelier: 1-5 DH Thomas Neal: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 K — 11 hits in his last 25 at-bats (.440) CF Melky Mesa: 2-4, 1 R, 1 K — 70 strikeouts (!) and four walks in 45 games RHP Chase Whitley: 1.2 IP, zeroes, 3 K, 2/0 GB/FB — 15 of 22 pitches were strikes (68%) … first scoreless outing of the year RHP Mark Montgomery: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 2/0 GB/FB — 25 of 48 pitches were strikes (52%), and he was sitting mostly 89-90 mph with the fastball … 15 strikeouts and 15 walks in his last 15.1 innings RHP Sam Demel: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1/0 GB/FB — 12 pitches, eight strikes … he’s been their only reliable reliever this year Double-A Trenton (4-2 loss to Bowie) LF Ramon Flores: 2-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K — had been in a 6-for-36 (.167) slump CF Slade Heathcott: 0-4, 2 K DH Tyler Austin: 1-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K — first homer in 18 games RHP Zach Nuding: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 WP, 1 HB, 7/3 GB/FB — 65 of 105 pitches were strikes (62%) RHP Branden Pinder: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1/1 GB/FB — 11 of 15 pitches were strikes High-A Tampa (4-3 win over Dunedin, walk-off style) CF Mason Williams: 2-4 — threw a runner out at first 2B Angelo Gumbs & DH Rob Refsnyder: both 0-4 — Refsnyder struck out thrice LF Ben Gamel: 1-4 1B Casey Stevenson: 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI — walk-off three-run homer, so that’s cool RHP Corey Black: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 12/3 GB/FB — 56/20 K/BB in 48.1 innings LHP Cesar Cabral: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0/3 GB/FB — first two strikeouts of his rehab assignment (third game) RHP Taylor Garrison: 1 IP, zeroes, 1/1 GB/FB – all batted balls tonight, but he’s got a 23/3 K/BB in 20.1 innings this year Low-A Charleston (12-2 loss to Greenville) CF Jake Cave: 1-5, 2 K 1B Greg Bird: 0-4, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 E (pickoff) — no contact kinda day C Peter O’Brien: 0-3, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 PB – another no contact kinda day … that’s also his 15th (!) passed ball 3B Dante Bichette: 3-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI — fourth homer of the year, one more than all of last season LHP Dan Camarena: 4 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 WP, 3/4 GB/FB — 54 of 79 pitches were strikes (68%) … just an ugly, ugly season so far Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blogAustin & Bichette homer in losses

The Yanks beat the crap out of the Rays tonight but their bad luck continued when Curtis Granderson was hit in the hand by a pitch. The news ain’t good, but at this point, it’s hardly surprising: Granderson fractured the knuckle on his left pinky. So he’s gone for another good while. Just a huge bummer for a good dude, and for the Yanks as well. This is getting stupid, these injuries. And wouldn’t you know that David Phelps left the game after getting hit by a line drive in the right arm (fortunately, x-rays were negative). Jeez. [Photo Credit: AP, via Lo-Hud]